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Friday, March 09, 2012

Government confirms new breathalyzer law

The move, which has been widely reported for some time, was made officialin a decree on February 28th and published on Thursday.

"Every driver of a motorised land vehicle, excluding mopeds, must possessan unused and immediately available breathlyzer, " said the decree,published in the official gazette ("Journal Officiel de la RépubliqueFrançaise").

Transport ministry officials told The Local that the rule would applyequally to vehicles from outside France.

July and August are busy months on the French roads as millions of Frenchpeople and tourists head for their holiday destinations.

A fine of €11 ($15) will be charged to anyone not carrying the breathalyzerkit, but police have been told to start fining only from November 1st.

The new law is the latest attempt to reduce France's road accident rate.

Around 4,000 people died on French roads in 2011, a very slight improvementon the figure for the year before.

Drink driving is believed to be responsible for one in three road deaths.

The government hopes having a kit in the car will allow people to testthemselves and to give them the means to test others if they suspect theyare over the limit.

The legal blood alcohol limit in France is 0.5 grams per litre.

The single-use tests cost between €0.50 and €1.50 and manufacturers arerushing to produce enough to meet expected demand.

President Nicolas Sarkozy promised the measure in November in the hope ofslashing drink driving, responsible for 31 percent of fatal road accidents.

Disposable breathalysers have been available in French bars and nightclubssince then.

New coaches have been equipped with breathalyser tests that prevent driversstarting the ignition since January 2010. The devices are to be installedin all coaches by the start of the 2015 school year.

A total of 3,970 people died on French roads in 2011, down barely 0.5percent or 22 lives compared to 2010.

When Sarkozy came to power in 2007 he set the government the ambitioustarget of reducing annual road deaths to 3,000 by 2012.

The new breathalyzer requirement will be added to the existing rulescompelling drivers to carry a warning triangle and a fluorescent safetyvest.